Students experience career day at Gulfstream

Jalessia Berry, a DeRenne Middle School eighth-grader, receives flight simulation instruction from Linda Minor of Woodville Tompkins. About 200 students from Chatham, Bryan and Effingham counties attended Gulfstream’s Aviation Career Day on Friday.

Eighth-grader Bridget Lowe has dreams of becoming a pilot, so when she and nine other gifted students from Godley Station School were treated to a tour of Gulfstream on Friday, she was practically walking on air.

They were among some 200 students from public, private and home schools across Chatham, Bryan and Effingham counties invited by Gulfstream to see where some of the world’s most advanced business jets are built and meet the people who make it all happen.

It was part of the Savannah-based company’s Aviation Career Day.

“Just to get them excited and build that awareness about different career paths in the industry,” said Miriam Hodesh of Gulfstream’s corporate responsibility department.

“There’s close to 8,500 people who work here at Gulfstream. There are so many types of career paths and we wanted to show students, ‘Hey, you can come here and work on our aircraft, in sales, marketing, accounting, finance, engineering.’ It just goes on and on.”

While a DJ blasted the latest pop tunes from Beyoncé to Justin Timberlake over a loud-speaker system, students toured interactive science, technology, engineering and mathematics-focused (STEM) exhibits that included a tour of a G280 simulator, furniture making, major assembly and maintenance and operational support.

The Gulfstream Savannah facility produces the G450, G550 and G650 business jets.

“Nobody does what we do with these airplanes,” said Brian Justus, a technician whose job entails flying around the world to fix planes, a free service to Gulfstream clients.

As part of Friday’s activities, 12 randomly selected students were allowed to board a G450 to “hot taxi” along a runway. The aircraft never left the ground, but they got a unique opportunity to briefly experience travel inside a world-class jet, said a company spokesman.

Lowe, the Godley Station eighth-grader, said she was anxious to learn what it takes to fly such a plane.